"State Fair" Soda Tasting at Blue Sun Soda

Saturday, the boys and I stopped by Blue Sun Soda Shop for a little tasting event they had advertised on Facebook. I knew it would be small (nothing like the big outdoor tasting event last year), but it was an excuse to get to the soda shop.

Blue Sun seems to be changing/expanding every time we stop. Last time we were there, this was where all the pinball machines were, and now it's an "old fashioned" soda shop:

Lots of flavors of soda, and also ice cream floats! (And hot dogs and chips.)

We found the soda tasting at the back of the store, which was just some open bottles and tiny plastic "sipping cups:"

"State Fair" sodas in front of John Wayne.

We all had tiny pours of all 5 kinds of soda. I looked on the labels and saw that the State Fair sodas were made right there at Blue Sun Soda. Here was my ranking from favorite (on the left) to least favorite (on the right):

"Cotton Candy" was like liquid cotton candy! Sweet and tasty! "Kettle Corn" was pretty decent,
tasting like sweet popcorn. "Rocket Bomb Pop" was just OK, "Mini Donut" was cinnamon-y
and alright, and I didn't care for "Chocolate Chip Cookie" that much.

Henry's ranking: he like Rocket Bomb Pop and Cotton Candy a lot.
Neither of my boys cared for Kettle Corn (ranked last).

New sodas: the boys met Billy last year, and they liked his goofy sodas here. The colors
don't match the flavors. (I bought a grape Billy's Bubble Pop, and that was the yellow one.)

A previously closed space in the back is now the arcade!

The other side of the arcade on the other side of the air hockey table.

The boys using their last quarters, with 2 other kids at the air hockey table.

In that first soda of the arcade, you can see my basket of sodas in the foreground. I walked out with 8 bottles, making it one of my smallest trips to Blue Sun. Thanks for the fun tasting event! We'll be back!

Fluids Soda Green Cooler

Yesterday, I started a quick 3-day project in our basement and up the basement steps. I opened this while working:

After a few hours of scraping and caulking, before getting a coat of primer on last night.

Brand: Fluids Soda Co. Green Cooler.

Origin: Camarillo, CA.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: Much like my first "Fluids" soda earlier this summer, I didn't know what flavor this was when I opened it. I guess I wasn't too surprised with this neon green turned out to be "green apple" flavored. It was OK. It was a little harsh, and it had that slight "wet cardboard" taste. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. I'm ranking this just below average.

Score: 4.5 out of 10.


Sidenote: here's my "before" shot of scraping from yesterday, and my "during" shot from right now after caulking and a few coats of primer on the bare spots:

Time to paint tomorrow! (Just got back with paint from Menards - all ready to go!)

Jarritos Mandarin

The boys and I stopped at Cub Foods 2 days ago (we rarely do because we are more of an "Aldi" family) for some ingredients for some Thai chicken, and we found a Jarritos that we hadn't tried yet:

Brand: Jarritos Mandarin.

Origin: El Paso, TX.

Purchase Place: Cub Foods, Minneapolis, MN.

Sweetener: Sugar.

Review: This had a true "kick" of mandarin orange - it was not just a regular orange soda. And I don't know that I cared for it that much. You know the difference between an "orange" and an "orange cream" soda? Well, take that difference and make an orange soda with more of a bite than creaminess, and you'd have this soda. True that it has an appropriate mandarin kick, but it's just not something that I liked all that much. I'll rate this just below average.

Score: 4 out of 10.

MN State Fair Sodas

Last Friday, my boys and I went to the MN State Fair. One of our first stops was a root beer barrel for a root beer:

My 8-year-old did the ordering.

A small is $2, and the "Blue Ribbon Bargain Book" had a $1 off coupon. So this $1 IBC root beer might have been our deal of the day.

We also had to stop at the Spring Grove Soda stand by the DNR building. I let the boys pick the flavor, and they picked orange. We had a $1 off coupon for this too, so it was only $2 after the coupon:

My 5-year-old hogging the orange soda.

This was just after a burp, so he looks quite drunk off soda.  ;)

Check out the State Fair before it closes on Monday!

And in related posts, click the "Minnesota State Fair" tag at the bottom of this post to go back year-after-year. Or click directly on my 2 favorite State Fair posts: rating lots of fair food 3 years ago, and having treats and Spring Grove Soda 5 years ago.

Cock Cola

I opened this last night:

Brand: Cock Cola.

Origin: Incline Village, NV.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: In case you're wondering (like I was), they give no indication as to why they call it "cock" cola. Nothing. So that's still a mystery. But the line at the bottom of the label saying "strong cola taste" is pretty right on: it's a strong-tasting but pretty normal cola. Nothing stands out about it, but it was fine. I'm giving it a pretty average score.

Score: 6 out of 10.

Towne Club Lemonade

I opened this the other day with my boys:

Brand: Towne Club Lemonade

Origin: Detroit, MI.

Purchase Place: Blue Sun Soda, Spring Lake Park, MN.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: It was just slightly carbonated, and it was good. It wasn't too sweet - almost a little tart. That made my wife and I like it quite a bit, but my boys say they wished it was sweeter. So it was an "adult" lemonade. Pretty good!

Score: 7.5 out of 10.

Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer

Some "internet friends" recently had a tasty root beer, and they thought of me! (I'm honored!) So they tracked down another can (which wasn't easy - they had it in Yellowstone and then had to find another can for me later at an ice cream shop) and spent $10 to mail a can first class to me. Thanks Brandon and Theresa!

They mailed it a few weeks ago when we were out of town. I got it and put it in the fridge right away, and I was saving it for a special occasion. Yesterday, I spent some time outside working on the foundation of our house, and then my boys and I ate supper outside because it was so beautiful. PERFECT time to crack out a good root beer.

In the backyard.

The boys getting a few ounces of my root beer after supper in the backyard.

Brand: Grand Teton Brewing "Old Faithful" Root Beer.

Origin: Victor, ID.

Purchase Place: Genuine Ice Cream Co, Bozeman, MT.

Sweetener: Cane Sugar.

Review: This was very creamy. But more importantly, it was VERY "herby." If you like a "rooty" and herb-filled root beer, then try this. It might be the most herby I've ever had. But it wasn't overpowering. And then there was a fruity sweetness at the end. Theresa noted that it had a good head, but mine was a bit flatter (could have been from being in the mail for a few days?), but it wasn't a problem. Unique and tasty!

Score: 8.5 out of 10.

Flavors of Soda